Rail-joint.



PATENTED NOV. 27, 1906.

H. D. SHUSTBR.

RAIL JOINT.

uruoumn FILED MAY 17, 1906.

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HENRY D. SHUSTER, OF LEECHBURG. PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented NOV. 27, 1906.

Application filed May 17, 1906- Serial No. 317,274.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY D. SHUSTER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Leechburg, in the county of Armstrong and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRail-Joints, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements innut-locks particularly designed for rail-joints and railwayconstruction.

My invention has for its primary object the provision of positive andreliable means for simultaneously looking a plurality of nuts or bursupon their respective bolts. To this end I have devised a simple andinexpensive nut-lock which while designed particularly for rail-jointscan be used for various purposes not herein specified. It is a wellknownfact that the nuts of a rail-joint become loose and detached on accountof the vibrations set up by. rolling-stock passing over a joint. Toobviate this defect, I use a special type of nut or bur and alocleplate, said plate being placed in engagement with the nuts or bursand the fish bars or plates of the rail-j o1nt.

My invention will be hereinafter more fully described and thenspecifically claimed,

and reference will now 4o 'oint.

same, and Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of a be had to the drawings,forming part of this specification, wherein Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of a railjoint equipped with my improved nut-lock. Fig. 2 is adetached perspective view of a lock-plate. Fig. 3 is a similar view of anut or bur. Fig. 4 is an end view of the rail- Fig. 5 1s across-sectional view of the portion of one of the fish bars or plates ofthe joint.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the confronting ends oftwo rails 1 and 2, secured together by fish-bars 3 and 4 and bolts 5,said bolts passing through said bars and the web portions of said rails.These elements are of a conventional form, with the exception of thefish-bar 3, which is flanged, as at 6, and made slightly heavier thanthe bar 4. In connection with the bolts 5 I emthen secured to one ofploy ordinary hexagon-shaped nuts 7 and specially-formed nuts 8, thesenuts constituting part of my invention.

My invention particularly resides in a locking-plate 9, corresponding inlength to the fish-bar 3. The one longitudinal edge of the plate 9 isprovided with a plurality of recesses 10, these recesses correspondingin number to the number of nuts 7 and 8 used in connection with arail-joint. Each recess comprises two vertical sides 11 11 and twoinclined sides 12 12, the sides 11 and 12 conforming to four sides of ahexagon-shaped nut or bur. The one side of the lockingplate intermediateits ends is formed with a recess 14, and in said recess is secured asoft metal strap 15, having a pierced end 16.

The flanged edge of the fish-bar 3 is provided with anupwardly-extending pierced pin 17, adapted to engage the pierced end 16of the strap 15 and be retained in engagement therewith by a split linkor seal 18.

The specially-formed nuts or burs 8 consist principally of caps orflanges 19, which prevent lateral displacement of the lockingplate 9when the same is mounted upon the nuts or burs 7.

In making the fish-bar 3 slightly thicker than the bar 4 I am enabled toplace the locking-plate 9 over the nuts and burs carried by the bolts 5.It is essential, however, that the nuts and burs be properly ositionedupon the bolts 5 to be received y the recesses 10, which prevent saidnuts and burs from rotating upon the bolts. Mter the locking-plate hasbeen so placed the strap 15 is locked upon the pin 17 to preventvertical displacement of said bar.

It will be apparent from the novel structural features of my inventionthat I have devised positive and available means for insuring a safe anddurable connection between the rails of a joint, and I desire it to beunderstood that such changes in the size, proportion, and minor detailsof construction as are permissible by the appended claim may be resortedto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination in the fish-plates and the a rail-joint, including boltsand nuts thereof, of a plate provided with recesses on one edge thereof,said recesses adapted to fit over said nuts and hold the same againstrotation, said plate being provided with a recess on one of its faces, apin passing through an opening in one of the fish-plates, a rigid strapcarried by said plate, and secured in said second-named recess, saidrigid strap having an opening adapted to receive said pin, and l meanscarried by said pin to prevent acci- 1o dental displacement of saidrigid strap.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of tWoWitnesses.

HENRY D. SHUSTER.

Witnesses:

JAMES B. KIFER, J. I. HUNTER.

